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Sab Elai
Sab Elai is a nation in the continent of Kussia. It borders Terenco to the northwest, Hembore to the west, and Dhinta to the south. It also borders the World's-Edge Sea to the east and the Bay of Teeth to the north. The current lamane of Sab Elai is Ngochize Uzoma II. Foundation of Sab Elai In the late second century BT, the state of Sab Nzasa was in crisis; civil war was depleting the nation's treasury and army, and so many Yantezasa nobles attempted to break away from the failing state. One of these was Kembure Chukwuemeka, the tengei of Elai, who declared his nation's independence in 94 BT. Elai— now "Sab Elai," or "the state of Elai"— was located in the south, far from the Yantezasa capital, and so the monarchy of Sab Nzasa paid relatively little attention to it. While most of the Yantezasa breakaway states either sought to consolidate themselves or to fight against Sab Nzasa itself, Chukwuemeka— as well as his son Nkemdilim— looked to expand by taking over their fellow rebel states. Those nations mostly had small militaries or weak governments, and so by the time of Nkemdilim's death in 42, Sab Elai had become the dominant state in the southeastern Odatho Plains. Around this time, Sab Nzasa collapsed entirely, and Sab Elai's main rival became the western Odatho state of Agwela. The two subsequent Yantalai lamanes, Nzarbarimb and Oghenekaro, were not as militarily minded as their predecessors; thus, in the later first century BT, Sab Elai suffered western land loss to the Agwelites. Mpasu dynasty (3 BT–142 DR) Lamane Oghenekaro had no children, so as his successor, he appointed Mpasu Nkemdilim, who had been one of his wards. However, Oghenekaro had had several wards, and so when Mpasu Nkemdilim became Lamane Nkemdilim II in 3 BT, two of Oghekenaro's other wards declared the Kembure Succession War (3 BT–1 DR). Mpasu Nkemdilim, as the chosen successor of Oghenekaro, had the largest support base; thus, the war went successfully for him, and so in 1 DR he became the unquestioned lamane. Nkemdilim II ruled fairly peacefully; he accomplished little, but under his reign, Sab Elai was prosperous. However, his son— Lamane Ekwueme I— was a more ambitious ruler. After Ekwueme's accession in 17 DR, he began reaching out to Agwelite leaders and inflaming national tensions there. By 25, Agwela had broken into civil war; at this time, Ekwueme reached out to Alkinar nagast Samten III, and the two swooped in from both sides to partition Agwela. This established an Alkina-Sab Elai alliance, that would see the two states become allies again when Alkina's Rabhen II declared the Tripartite War on Srevelle (63–69 DR). This war helped Sab Elai expand to the south and to extend its coastline, bringing benefits to Yantalai trade. However, this growth alarmed the northern state of Angasso, and so Angassite lamanes began ordering raids into the north of Sab Elai. Lamane Nkemdilim III (r. 60–81) tried to stop the raids without going to war; however, his successor, Chinwendu I (r. 81–93), declared war on Angasso after coming to power. The First Elai-Angasso War lasted from 81 to 85, and saw Sab Elai expand farther; however, the war was an expensive one, and so after it Sab Elai was forced to consolidate in the face of resumed Angassite aggression. The long reign of Ekwueme II (r. 93–137) was largely focused on trade, but Ekwueme went on to wage economic warfare against Angasso; this led Angasso to declare the Second Elai-Angasso War in 125. The Second Elai-Angasso War saw Sab Elai maintain its borders, but it harmed the Yantalai trade networks by destroying outposts and burning ships. By the war's conclusion in 128, Sab Elai had lost much of its commercial power, and many nobles found themselves with less wealth than they had been accustomed to. This led to general aristocratic unrest in Sab Elai, culminating in the assassination of Ekwueme III in 142 and the installation of Punwame Kitengi on the throne. Punwame dynasty (142–275) Punwame Kitengi— now Lamane Kitengi I— ruled with a general focus on empowering the nobles and bringing money to the Yantalai upper classes. This made him popular with his fellow aristocrats, but led to unhappiness among the peasantry, who eventually staged an uprising in 161. Although the rebellion was put down after several months, Kitengi was forced to go back on several of his decrees to prevent further uprisings in other Yantalai cities. The following Punwame lamanes were then forced to strike a balance, neither wanting another peasant rebellion nor wishing to displease the aristocrats who had brought them to power in the first place. Lamane Chukwuemeka III (r. 222–237) would ultimately disregard the balance, taxing the nobles highly to increase both his personal wealth and the living conditions of the peasantry. This caused Opukwe Nzarbarimb, a western noble, to declare his independence in 228. The Srevellic military provided significant material aid to Nzarbarimb, and so in 230, Nzarbarimb was able to force the Yantalai monarchy to recognize the state of Hembore. Early Hemborite lamanes repeatedly waged war on Sab Elai, and were able to seize much of its western territory; however, this land loss helped the Yantalai political situation to stabilize, as it became necessary for the nobility to band together to minimize the damage to the nation. This eventually led Lamane Raputo (r. 243–275) to declare in 262 that, upon his death, a council of nobles would elect a militarily capable monarch to succeed him. Kweyapasu dynasty (275–458) The council's choice was Kweyapasu Chukwuemeka, and so in the winter of 275, he ascended the throne as Lamane Chukwuemeka IV. He was quick to declare war against Hembore, but due to Hemborite advancements in urban defense, Chukwuemeka was not able to make substantive progress before agreeing to a peace in 282. Although Chukwuemeka's reign would last over forty years, during which the Yantalai government was internally smooth and effective, he was a staunch traditionalist and was unable to attain military victories against Hembore. With Hembore now projecting its power throughout the region, later Kweyapasu monarchs sought more peaceful foreign policies; this was typified by the reign of Lamane Ngbendu I (r. 346–365), who emphasized transforming the Yantalai military apparatus into a commercial navy. Although Sab Elai had not been a significantly naval power prior to Ngbendu's reign, the spread of the printing press allowed Yantalai carpenters to learn from the relatively advanced shipwrights of Gentor. By the reign of Nkemdilim IV (r. 365–400), the Yantalai government ran the Isogagwo: a navy that was sworn to protect merchants and traders, particularly those from Sab Elai itself, traveling the east coast of Kussia. In order to reap the benefits of the Isogagwo, Srevellic sultan Harinder VI formed an alliance with Sab Elai in 376; however, this triggered suspicion from the Hemborites, leading Hembore to declare the Elai Coast War in 380. Although Sab Elai struggled further in this war, Srevellic aid helped keep the losses to a minimum. The fifth-century Kweyapasu monarchs began to desire expansion in their north, for two purposes: a border with the recently growing state of Corsoto and a direct coastline along the Bay of Teeth. To this end, Lamane Ngbendu II (r. 409–443) declared the Bay War against Hembore in 414. Largely owing to naval warfare and trade blockades by the Yantalai, the Bay War was a success for Sab Elai, and in 418 they managed to secure their desired land as a concession. The Kweyapasu dynasty ultimately collapsed under Ngbendu III (r. 443–458), who, as a celebration of Yantalai power, took an unprecedently high number of wards. When he ascended to the lamanehood, Ngbendu III did not have enough property to appropriately divide among his wards, and so there came to be ongoing strife among them. This erupted into a full-fledged civil war in the 450s; Ngbendu III appealed to Srevelle to help restore order, but Srevelle was also plagued by internal tension and refused to send aid. Ngochize dynasty (458–present) Ngochize Chidiegwu was the most powerful of the civil war belligerents when Ngbendu died in 458; consequently, he ascended the Yantalai throne himself, as Lamane Chidiegwu II. He was initially unpopular, but he later rebuffed trade proposals from the Alarean Golden Quintet, citing nationalistic doctrine that helped redeem him in the public eye. Chidiegwu's successors were more willing to negotiate with the Alareans; Kitengi III was interested in gunpowder, which had never been prevalent in Kussia, but he was forced to abandon the deal by pressure from Srevelle. However, Srevelle collapsed in 517 DR, after which the then-reigning Lamane Chukwuemeka VI quickly signed an agreement between the Golden Quintet and the Isogagwo. With the Isogagwo now protecting Alarean ships, trade began flowing increasingly heavily across the World's-Edge Sea; this was hugely profitable for Sab Elai, especially in the early years, when Alarean trade was the only point of Kussian access to gunpowder. However, Hemborite and Corsotic scientists managed to start manufacturing their own gunpowder in the 540s, hurting Yantalai profits. Category:Countries Category:Kussian Countries Category:Active Countries